ITT: I Rank All 96 Tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

#22: DK Mountain (GCN)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF9lw9YDhqM

I mentioned earlier that I used every opportunity I could to wish for Daisy Cruiser's inclusion in the Booster Pass; yet for some reason I never even considered wishing for DK Mountain despite it being my absolute favorite Double Dash track, and was quite surprised when it was included in the final wave. I guess I figured it was out of the running by default since it was already a retro course in MKWii, which was...over 15 years ago now?! I am very with the times! Still, it was a surprise of the most pleasant variety, and I'm pleased as punch to have this classic back in action!

Graphically the track's makeover from the original looks gorgeous, with it's lush jungles, rich gray mountain textures, and grumpy volcano face. I'm particularly fond of the far greater depth the distant landscape has been given, which is on full display during your descent and gives you a grand scale of not only how big the world is beyond your little track, but how high up you are in it as you scoot down the mountain. Soundtrack was and remains a chill little jungle rhythm that may never have stood out, but still fits the track quite nicely.

Design-wise, DK Mountain is the granddaddy of the barrel shot gimmick (at least as far as Mario Kart goes), which is one of my favorite recurring mechanics in the franchise. As such, the entire track is built around this gimmick more so than its descendants - go up a bit, get shot to the top, ride your way down, simple as that. It does have a couple surprises towards the end of the lap with the hairpin gorge and wavy plank bridge, both of which have punished many a karter in there day (more on that in a minute).

I had this one hovering in my top 12 almost by default, but when I gave it another hard look, I had to admit that it's just a wee bit basic nowadays compared to other tracks of its caliber. It's also piss-easy, weighed against both other MK8 tracks and its original incarnation; most notably in how they widened the gorge. I'm pretty sure I've yet to finish a single race here without a comfortable lead. And my Double Dash bias is actually an, umm, double-edged sword here, and I can't help but miss the little detail of having your partner hanging off the back of the cart for dear life as the barrel shot rockets you to the top of the mountain; this track also makes me realize how much I miss the intensity of the barrel shot actually having a 'shot' impact, as opposed to just being a facade for a fixed gliding segment. But in spite of all that, it's still a track that I love dearly, and feel it's earned it's relatively-lofty ranking.

Still wish we'd gotten Wario Colosseum instead, though.

Holiday bump.

Top 20 soon.

#21: Rainbow Road (N64)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7RP6M-cGMU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuG53TOJqlo

Mario Kart 64 was imo when the series really came into its own and set the standard for decades to come, and rarely was this more apparent than the franchise's second iteration of the iconic Rainbow Road: a grueling (or mind-numbing, depending on your mood) test of endurance that truly embodied the gorgeous, fantastical end-of-the-journey vibe that all subsequent Rainbow Roads have sought to recapture in their own way. It was a tremendous treat to see this version make a triumphant return, and there's many damn good reasons why Rainbow Road N64 is the literal poster child for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

For starters, the track is jaw-dropping in its beauty. Between the eponymous rainbow tiles, the fireworks, the gilded aesthetic, and the spectral sky locomotive, this track would fit right in among Disney World's finest attractions. The nighttime sky and illuminated cityscape below give the track and sense of warmth and scale that the original could never hope to accomplish on such limited hardware. Soundtrack is also a category in which the original version set the Rainbow Road standard, and the new orchestral rendition is a feast for the eardrums. The tone's more upbeat in this rendition than the original, which suits me just fine; N64 RR isn't the grand final challenge in MK8, but rather a triumphant celebration of the franchise as a whole up to this point, and the soundtrack reflects this sentiment. My only tiny nitpick is that the muted trumpet soloist almost sounds like he's running out of air on a couple notes (I feel ya buddy, I played trumpet for years in high school and I only had about fifteen minutes worth of lip stamina in me per day).

The most obvious change mechanically to the track is also it's best one: taking the infamous marathon that was the original and paring it down to just a single loop split into three mini-laps, thus transforming the franchise's all-time longest course into one of the shortest. And god bless the dev who first suggested it, because RRN64 is now the perfect little bite-sized treat. There's also been some welcome changes to the challenge, as in actually having some modicum of challenge apart from "don't fall asleep." Guardrails have been removed in key areas to keep you on your toes, and I greatly prefer the giant bouncing Champ Chomps as opposed to the smaller ones that would run along the track; having them paired quite strategically with the wavy segments of the track ensures that I still end up hitting these fuckers at least once per race if I'm not paying attention. And of course Rainbow Road as a concept is practically tailor-made for antigrav, and it's used to excellent effect here; I have a hard time not enjoying big sweeping turns on giant upward / downward spirals.

I absolutely adore this track, and really struggled over whether or not to nudge it a little higher in the rankings. But I figured that three different Rainbow Roads in the top 20 was overkill when there's such a wealth of variety otherwise in the cream-of-the-crop tracks.

Safety bump.

#20: Electrodrome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ST_uT47ZA&t=16s

Kicking off our top 20 is another track from exceptionally exemplary Star Cup. Electrodrome has always been a standout track in MK8, with its unique theme and pulse-pounding layout.

The aesthetics in this track are top-notch - walls draped in loudspeakers and tv screens, a giant disco ball with 'Mario Kart' printed on it, and probably another dozen little details that I never caught because I was zipping along too fast. I particularly love the little techno light trail that follows your kart during the first antigrav segment, as well as the fingerboard road layout in the latter half of the lap. The screen showing Koopas and Shyguys dancing at the rave is one of the single best instances of worldbuilding in the whole game; it instantly gives you the feel that all of these characters - friends and enemies alike - are just here to have a good time, and the traditional Bowser-kidnapping-Peach Mario games are just a stage play they all put on as a day job. And you couldn't ask for a more fitting audio theme for a techno dance party than what Electrodrome's soundtrack delivers.

Layout-wise the track is very fun. It makes great use of the antigrav, culminating in the dueling track segment that has you doing a mirrored race with the other track (this is one of those things I don't appreciate as much in 200cc since you really have to keep your eyes on the road and aren't matching speeds with your opponents to really have the inverted feeling sink in, but still, it's freakin' cool). Electrodrome is pretty light on hazards apart from the neoned-up Piranha Plants at the end, but it does at least drop the guardrails for the trickiest turns, which can still catch me off guard from time to time. The CPU certainly pulls its weight keeping me on my toes in this track, but it still manages to stay on the 'challenging' side of enemy fuckery without crossing into cheap or unfair.

I agonized a bit being this one and Rainbow Road N64 in the rankings; RRN64 may be a personal fave, but I couldn't deny the awesome Electrodrome a rightful spot in the top 20.

#19: Shroom Ridge (DS)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7CDGtuS6Yw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPuN1ACtiW0

Seems kind of silly that, for someone who values aesthetics so highly, I would rank a simple, rather plain jaunt over a hillside highway above neon nightclubs dripping with detail and lustrous Valhalla bridges. Well, I've always loved Mario Kart tracks with traffic hazards, but the original 48 courses of MK8 Deluxe were sorely lacking in this genre. It honestly blew my mind to realize that Toad's Turnpike was the only one of those 48 to feature the traffic gimmick, and we've already covered why that one...eh, falls a bit short of expectations. It almost feels like traffic hazards are a dying breed; there was a time when one-eighth of Double Dash's entire tracklist was devoted to that mechanic! Thankfully, Shroom Ridge came along to become - and handily remain, after the Booster Pass ran its course - the best traffic track in the game by a bright and sunny country mile.

Soundtrack earned Shroom Ridge some major points right out of the gate. This is easily a top five OST for me. Perfect mix of upbeat big brass and muted synth, which is a pairing I also appreciate in a similarly-arranged top-ten ranking. This is the kind of music that makes you hope its race comes up in the random draw just so you have the pleasure of hearing it, and never fails to get me pumped for the race ahead. Graphically, this is one of the few tracks in Wave 1 where the simplified models and textures actually worked very well in Shroom Ridge's favor, giving it a distinctly cartoonish / animated vibe without going so far in that direction that it no longer fit the game. Just the perfect visuals for a fun, energetic race through the hills.

But obviously I'm here for the mechanics, and boy does this simple little track deliver in that regard. Some might say it's a copout to have all the traffic flowing with the racers as opposed to...well, opposing them, but Shroom Ridge manages to maintain its challenge by keeping the vast majority of the race bound to a tight, winding two-lane road. Hills, a tunnel, and one particularly-tight turn towards the beginning keep things fresh while you're dodging your fellow karters and unsuspecting motorists. At the extreme risk of fetishizing a damn MK track, Shroom Ridge's curves are silky-smooth as butter, to the point where I can reliably get purple spark-boosts on several turns even in the thick of traffic.

There's some nice shortcuts spread throughout the track as well, which I'll probably never use even if I have a mushroom, because I'm having too much fun on the track to willingly leave it. I can't think of a time I didn't have an absolute blast on this track; and when I'm having fun, I'm racing better, which subsequently means that - to the best of my recollection, and factoring out the initial learning curve - I have never not gotten 1st on this track. Not even the nastiest, blue-shell-just-before-the-finish-line CPU fuckery can stop me on Shroom Ridge. Of course it doesn't hurt that the chaos of traffic hazards is a natural antidote for rubber-banding, which is another feather in Shroom Ridge's cap.

#18: Grumble Volcano (Wii)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyTcf4HXrew

If you'd asked me when I first started playing MK8 Deluxe my opinion on this track, it likely would have been a resounding...eh? I don't have particularly fond memories of playing it on the Wii, and the aesthetics and soundtrack never really grabbed me initially; it was just a track I had to put up with to get to Rainbow Road N64. But it was around the time I started getting gud at 200cc that this track really started clicking with me, and when it came time to sit down and rank these, I couldn't deny that it deserved a place in the top 20.

Grumble Volcano's biggest draw is the collapsing track mechanic, which over the years has become one of my favorite gimmicks in the game. Apart from making the absolute most of the erupting volcano theme, it expertly cultivate a sense of growing intensity as the track goes on, and creates arguably the game's best layout variety in a traditional three-lap circuit. The track isn't one-note in its hazards, either - shifting stone platforms, fiery lava impacts and Fire Snakes are all great little obstacles to keep you on your toes. It's also great that the track opens up into branching paths towards the end, which again is only enhanced by a good chunk of the road falling away in the last lap.

All these hazards add up to a track that makes you feel very, very proud of yourself for nailing it start to finish, no matter how many times you've run it (lining up and sticking the shifting glider jump halfway through the lap is especially satisfying). What Grumble Volcano lacks in aesthetic overproduction it more than makes up for in providing a unique and exciting race that never comes close to being boring. Not that the aesthetics aren't good, mind you. Graphically the track is appropriately blazing and foreboding as any mid-eruption volcano should be, and the hints of ruins within the mountain are a nice touch. Soundtrack is appropriately intense, and the percussive beats (marimbas, I think?) remind me of the underground theme from Super Mario World.

Exemplary track here, and one that I'm always happy to see come up in the random list.

Getting closer to the top 15.

#17: Sydney Sprint (Tour)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47U1scE_Twg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drjOp2o6esg

I said way back when that I seem to favor Tour tracks a bit more highly than most. Well, here happens to be the highest-ranking Tour track in my list. Out of all the globe-trotting real world-based city tracks added in the Booster Pass, this is the only one I love unconditionally. And what does this track accomplish to earn such lofty praise? I've never even been to Australia and don't know shit about Sydney apart from the obviously-famous Opera House, so I don't have any cultural bias here. Is the track just that mind-blowing and immaculately-designed? Eh, kinda.

Well, enough beating around the bush, as I'm sure the second youtube link in this post was a big enough clue: Sydney Sprint is a top-20 ranker and a top-ten personal fave simply because it happens to have my #1 favorite soundtrack in the entire game. Big brass chorus, jazz flute, and a wailing sax solo is a recipe for audio orgasm that makes me want to leap to my feet and break out in a Ludicolo dance every single time I hear it. I truly hope that saxophonist had a blast recording this track, because it sure sounds like they did. It really is one of those soundtracks that greatly enhances the race in which it's featured, because I am never not pumped to zip around the landmarks of Sydney while this tune is jamming.

...Oh, right, I almost forgot that there's an actual racetrack standing pensively behind that killer sax solo! Well, if soundtrack could carry a ranking on its own, Sunset Wilds would've at least managed to sneak into the top 48. So despite my downplaying of it earlier, Sydney Sprint is actually a great little race even on mute. Not gonna lie, the dirt path segment in the second lap is my favorite bit of the race; I originally thought it was a bike path, but I'm not so sure (apparently it goes through Barangaroo Reserve; thanks wiki for helping me pretend to be worldly!). Whatever, I'm still gonna headcanon it as a bike path, and it's such a simple yet effective little change-up challenge to a more traditional road layout. Otherwise the race is largely laid out in an intuitive way that rarely has me invoking Lakitu's services by going off-course; the tricky turns it does have (such as coming out of the Opera House in the last lap) are fixed constructs, thus making them much easier to memorize. Speaking of which, I enjoy that the last lap is more or less the first lap in reverse.

Don't let me down, TC

Baby park at #80?

Step outside. We are throwing hands

Yoshi Valley's gotta be in the top 10, im tellin ya

#16: Sunshine Airport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H18b3ICqBq0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-jEAJRppMg

This is one of about three tracks which I would consider the poster children for the Mario Kart 8 experience. And the other two were literally featured on the cover art for the two releases of this game, so Sunshine Airport earns this vibe all on its own!

Sunshine Airport is just so much fun in both design and aesthetics. Graphically gorgeous, particularly in the interior terminal and all those shiny jumbo jets you zip over, under, and through during the race. In terms of detail, the worldbuilding is great, with the various ads in the terminal as well as other tracks referenced on the departure board. It's also nice to see Piantas still getting a bit of love as NPC spectators (I know Sunshine Airport isn't the only track in MK8 Deluxe to feature them, but it is the most fitting given the 'Sunshine' half of the name). Soundtrack's a perfect fit for the vibes of the stage. I don't know if it would quite crack into my personal top 5, but it's close. I suppose it is one of the my few personal faves to not feature a big brass section - just a smooth synth melody that manages to be both chill at upbeat at once.

Layout-wise it fits the airport theme about as excellently as could be reasonably expected. Like I mentioned earlier, driving under a plane, through the open-hatch middle of a plane, and gliding under a plane as it's taking off is about the most thematic interaction you could ask for out of this track (sure, it'd be cool if you could somehow piggyback on a plane as it's taking off into the sky, but that would be a nightmare to program given 12 different racers all at various stages in the lap, hence the 'reasonable expectations' part). It's a very easy track once you get the hang of it, but the sharp turns after the first boost jump and going into the second plane ensure that you'll slam a wall or go off-road if you're not paying attention. And I've probably mentioned before my love of shortcuts that don't require a speed boost, and Sunshine Airport has a great one in the baggage claim at the end of the lap; the shipping containers are an excellent little hazard to give it a risk vs reward aspect and keep it from being too easy.

My only minor gripe with this track is the hovering antigrav platform in the latter half of the lap. Nothing wrong with it mechanically; it's great in that regard, and a perfect sweeping turn for an easy purple spark-boost. Aesthetically though it feels a little out-of-place - why not have us drive on a stylized jet stream or, barring that, a cloud top? But like I said, minor gripe that doesn't really detract from what's overall a standout race.

#15: Squeaky Clean Sprint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sQ1XiUBW7U

"Making the most of the theme" is a criteria over which I've praised and / or nitpicked several tracks so far in this list. Well, here is the gleaming gold standard of that criteria: when it comes to squeezing every last drop out of a gimmick in terms of overproduction and integrated design, I don't think any other track in the game can top Squeaky Clean Sprint. Every...single...inch of this race makes the utmost use of the Honey-I-Shrunk-the-Kids-In-the-Bathroom theme. From the sink to the bathtub to the drainpipe to the soap-covered floor to the toilet and finally the bath towels, there isn't a foot of this race that feels wasted or basic.

And it looks fantastic while doing it. Squeaky Clean Sprint is one of the few tracks in the Booster Pass that is unquestionably on-par graphically with MK8 Deluxe's original 48. The track is dripping (pun intended) with extraneous details, from the giant fan to the boombox + wall of cassettes to bath bombs to a mario-themed rubber ducky...it would probably qualify as a dissertation to list every single little detail in this track. Soundtrack fits perfectly too: a lovely bit of slow, clean jazz that almost feels like it's trying to sell you shampoo products.

I've already mentioned that the theme is integrated into the track about as well as possible, but does it make for a good track race-wise? Certainly! Standout features include vaulting off the sink faucet, the optional path of floating sponges leading into the tub, and - one of my favorite layout details - the mushroom shortcut through the lost wedding ring in the drainpipe. Otherwise the layout is quite good, with enough frenetic up-and-down action to make for an exciting race. The folded towel section at the end of the lap fucks me up every time, but that's just more incentive to stick the glide up to the upper wooden shelf.

Squeaky Clean Sprint was one of those tracks that I dumped rather thoughtlessly into the middle rankings in the first draft, only to see it rocket up the list once I started looking at it more critically and weighing it against the criteria I was using to judge similar tracks that relied heavily on theming. And honestly, if I were to sit down again in a year or two and revisit these rankings, I wouldn't be surprised if Squeaky here didn't break into the top 8 after I've spent that much more time with it. If anyone asks, I'll pretend that I knocked points off this track once it dawned on me how nasty it is to use a jet of toilet water to boost up to the upper path at the end of the lap.

#14: Super Bell Subway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq8_bqdOjfE

I could be off my rocker in this assumption, but this feels like one of those tracks that I personally love waaay more than most people. At any rate, I've mentioned before my love of trains and traffic hazards as a mechanic, and this is pretty much a perfect blending of the two.

Graphically the track is, of course, excellent. Lovely classic stone-architecture train station with vaulted glass ceilings; though most of the race takes place in the train tunnels, which is admittedly a bit monotonous visually. In not the last of its similarities to Sunshine Airport, Super Bell Subway has a wealth of worldbuilding in its advertisements and destination signs for other racetracks. Soundtrack is a chill little melody that fits the track like a glove; just like Sunshine Airport, it nails that vibe of waiting in a train terminal for departure.

But this is a track that earns its spot largely on mechanics. Where Super Bell Subway differs heavily from Sunshine Airport is that while the latter's planes are largely on the inert side, the former's trains are very much in play. I praised Shroom Ridge as being the best 'traditional' traffic hazard track in the game, but when it comes to the simple concept of sharing the road with other moving vehicles against which you do not want to play a game of chicken, Super Bell Subway is the tops. The hazard mechanic is implemented masterfully here; a pair of color-coded subway trains running in opposing directions, and with staggered timing (at least in 200cc) so that you can't predict when you'll encounter them lap to lap (or at least I can't - I'm betting better racers than I have their timing down to a science, but hell, I have enough trouble memorizing the track layout). Obviously the bulk of the race is built around the train mechanic, and it too accomplishes its goal with excellence. The road has its wide and narrow sections to mix things up, and there's a couple narrow twisting upper paths to help you avoid the trains if you so choose.

Super Bell Subway is yet another track that I forever fell in love with once I got gud at it. I feel like an absolute boss any time I can make it through the whole race without getting clobbered by a train, and unlike Shroom Ridge it's still quite challenging; though like Shroom Ridge, the traffic hazards keep the rubberbanding reined in, so CPU fuckery stays blessedly low.

More than halfway to the top 10.

Seeing what's left, I'm expecting Mt.Wario to be top 3

glad to see super bell subway pretty high up, it's such an underrated track

Interested to see what track is next.

#13: Rainbow Road (8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVh5m1UEuY

Mario Kart 8 had some big shoes to fill when it came to designing its own version of the perennial Rainbow Road. Previous iterations of the track are certainly not one-note in design, so the devs had a pretty wide open field on how to approach this. Long and boring? Short and sweet? Relatively-easy or brutally tough? Thankfully, they made pretty much all the right moves when they designed this gem.

Aesthetically, Rainbow Road 8 takes the traditional omni-colored raceway and melds it with a floating hi-tech space station theme to great effect. The Blooper-shaped shuttle is one of if not the coolest and cleverest designs in the game, and the Toads in space suits and floating spectator stands add an exceptional level of personality to this track, no matter how far-fetched it might be to fly to outer space just to watch an effin' kart race. Soundtrack's great as well; it's not my favorite, or second favorite, or even...third favorite Rainbow Road OST in franchise history, but it's nonetheless a fitting up-tempo theme that has a nice switch between electric guitar and Tomorrowland-esque synth melodies between verses.

But this is another track where the aesthetics - excellent though they are - take a backseat to the design and gameplay. I don't think it's controversial to say that Rainbow Road 8 remains the toughest track in Mario Kart 8. Between the punishing first s-curve and the narrow twisting (and almost completely guardrail-less) dueling paths, RR8 will chew you up and spit you out to burn up on reentry if you're not on your A-game. It sometimes feels relatively short in terms of lap length, but it's just as long as it needs to be - it's the antithesis of Rainbow Road N64's original version, substituting a mind-numbing marathon approach for a tight, intense race that doesn't overstay its welcome.

And Rainbow Road 8's challenge is a very good thing to be perfectly honest, because I'm of the opinion that Rainbow Road should be the toughest course in the game. I clearly don't dislike versions that fall short of this mark, but I will certainly heap extra praise upon Rainbow Roads that are the toughest challenges of their respective games. If a course can still make my hands cramp and my palms sweat after dozens upon dozens of runs, it's undeniably a challenge; and RR8 is the only track in the game that still has that effect on me. I don't think I'll ever be able to make it around that first s-curve in 200cc without some serious braking (plus deliberately cutting my spark boost short via hopping) to keep myself from flying clean off the track, and for the life of me I still can't fathom how people can pull off that turn otherwise. Rainbow Road 8 isn't just a course that'll make you feel good about finishing it flawlessly; you'll feel like an absolute unit if you can simply make it the whole race without falling off once.

This is also what I personally consider the most 'tough but fair' track in the game as far as CPU fuckery goes; barring a literal blue shell at the finish line, I can't think of a loss I've suffered on RR8 that was unfair. Those CPU bastards might smugly zip by me on the s-curve while I'm putzing around trying to keep from falling off, but that just makes it that much sweeter when I whip them up and down the dueling paths.

Mount Warro has to be #1 or I riot

Another track closer...

12 remain.

#12: Yoshi's Circuit (GCN)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYV9BnvqIqE

Welp, we've finally arrived at the Top 12, the cream of the crop, the 1-in-8 luminaries of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe experience. Yoshi's Circuit scratches a few key itches for me: 1) An all-time personal favorite, 2) My Double Dash bias, especially considering that most of the ones featured in MK8 Deluxe underperformed in the rankings after I sat down and gave them a critical scouring, and 3) a simple, non-gimmicky circuit. And in all those regards, Yoshi's Circuit is the tops.

Soundtrack's excellent, for starters. It's one of those tunes that I never really sat down and noticed even back in the day, since it was just the 'stock circuit ost' in Double Dash. But this is a fantastic upgrade, coming off as a fun, jazzy jam session without sacrificing the cutesy whistles of the original. The rather barebones design of the original has been lovingly updated, with the lush foliage and quaint little pit-stop port village, complete with ticker-tape confetti. It's also a nice touch to have some apple trees scattered around as a nod to the Yoshis. Part of me thinks that it would've been fun to let the apples drop onto the track for free mushroom boosts a la Animal Crossing, but that would ruin the gimmick-free vibe of the track.

Of course when I say that Yoshi's Circuit is gimmick-free, that's not entirely accurate. The concept of having the entire circuit laid out as a giant outline of Yoshi himself was, and remains, fucking brilliant; that brilliance lying in the fact that you completely forget about the gimmick while you're racing the track, and likely never would have noticed had the game not pointed it out for you. Turns out that a giant Yoshi outline makes for a pretty exciting race, with tons of twisting and sweeping turns to keep you on your toes. The 'spine' segment of the roadway is a bit rough, but it's all part of the challenge! And hey, one of the first little tricks I learned in 200cc was that you can bypass the spine almost entirely by hopping over the grass between the first Piranha Plant and the hillside, so it can be easily avoided if you're not feeling it. The layout gimmick also results in some fun aesthetic touches, such as the trio of stone arch underpasses for his fingers, and the tunnel existing solely so that Yoshi's snout is a giant ball of unmarred green in the skyview shot.

This track is to me is what Baby Park is to a lot of people - a stripped-down proving ground of a circuit. I don't personally believe that a 'great equalizer' track has to completely boil down the driving skill aspect of the challenge to a monotonous oval; thus Yoshi's Island has always been my own personal Final Destination equivalent. Apart from a couple easily-avoidable Piranha hazards on the spine segment, it's just you, the road, and your fellow racers. It's a twisting, challenging circuit, but devoid of the punishing turns found in, say, Neo Bowser City or Rainbow Road 8, thus ensuring that any racer with decent skill can handle it. It hits that sweet spot for me personally where victory is never assured, and yet I might as well hang up my hat for the day if I lose.

I knocked a lot of personal faves out of the top 12 for the sake of greater objectivity, and I'm pleased as punch that, after all the reviewing and scrutiny, there was still room for good ol' Yoshi's Circuit to squeak its way into the top.